The 3rd Prince, Bellion and Kyle who became friends with him started chatting about this and that.
“Hee- So you’ve already mastered Aura.”
“What’s so surprising? You’re the same.”
“Eh? How did you know?”
“Just by looking at you, you can tell, right? Yuri.”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
Kyle tilted his head as he watched Yuri addressing him politely. It was only natural since just moments ago, his fiancée who had been speaking casually suddenly started using formal speech.
After pondering for a moment, Kyle soon realized why Yuri was using polite language towards him.
“What? Don’t tell me – because I’m speaking casually with the prince, you’re using formal speech with me too?”
“….No, it’s not like that.”
“I see. Hey, Bellion. Isn’t it okay if Yuri speaks casually too? We’re the same age.”
“Of course. I don’t mind.”
Seeing Prince Bellion smiling while saying that, Yuri started trembling unusually for her.
What could be so scary? Kyle let out a dry laugh. In this game world with many loose settings, would anyone really die just for speaking casually to a prince?
In the original work, the protagonist who was a commoner even shared spit with them.
“It’s fine, Yuri. Even Bellion says it’s okay.”
“…Alright.”
“You still have a long way to go…”
Sighing while looking at Yuri, Kyle thought of a way to ease this stiff atmosphere.
Traditionally, a slightly risqué conversation was always the answer to a tense atmosphere.
“By the way, Yuri, your chest has grown bigger.”
“Yeah…”
“Looks like what Mother said about having big breasts wasn’t a lie.”
“She’s over there.”
Upon hearing that Yuri’s mother, his future mother-in-law had arrived, Kyle quickly rolled his eyes and scanned the party venue.
Sure enough, standing far away was a woman with silver hair wearing a dress that emphasized her chest.
‘Holy crap, they’re huge.’
Even considering various tricks to make breasts appear bigger in dresses, they were still watermelon-sized.
If she could achieve even half that size, she’d definitely be considered well-endowed, so Kyle nodded satisfactorily while looking at Yuri.
“Keep up the good work, Yuri.”
“Yeah…”
“…What are you two talking about?”
Bellion, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, looked at them with an incredulous expression.
Whether it was Kyle commenting on his fiancée’s breast size or Yuri accepting it without any issue, neither of them seemed normal.
“—Your Highness. Here you are.”
“Ah, Head Butler.”
At that moment, the head butler of the Imperial Palace came looking for Bellion. After glancing at Kyle and Yuri, the head butler promptly informed them about the party schedule.
Since the main guest couldn’t stay with one person forever, Bellion expressed his regrets and said goodbye.
“We must part ways here. Kyle, Yuri. See you next time.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
“…Please be careful.”
Although the head butler glared at Kyle for a moment after hearing the casual farewell, he didn’t reprimand him in this setting.
After parting ways with the two, Bellion headed to where the main guest should be, accompanied by the head butler.
When Bellion appeared at the center of the party venue, nobles wanting to join his faction immediately started lining up.
“Congratulations on your birthday, Your Highness.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“I’ve prepared a gift. I hope it pleases you.”
“I’ll check it later.”
A prince should identify which nobles approaching him would join his side or those who were just testing the waters like bats.
But Bellion wasn’t in the right state of mind. He was excited about making his first friend ever.
‘Friends… Friends…’
From afar, he caught sight of Kyle talking casually with his fiancée. He never expected someone to treat him so familiarly at such a young age.
Isn’t ten old enough to know better? The fact that someone could act this way at that age meant one of two things:
Either they lacked common sense, or they had a bold personality that didn’t care about social norms.
Watching Kyle slap his fiancée, a princess, on the back while laughing made him think it was probably the latter.
‘I never thought I’d make a friend.’
But it was still insufficient. The family protecting the empire’s sacred sword – while their status wasn’t low enough to prevent friendship with a prince, Kyle himself was just an ordinary successor.
‘If you become a Sword Saint, then…’
Aura Master.
If he reached the level of Sword Star, then he could comfortably call him a friend.
Wishing his friend would qualify to be a true friend, Bellion continued managing his connections.
* * *
The party ended. Thinking about how they gathered all these nobles from the countryside just for this felt excessive, but probably the viscount ran around tirelessly behind the scenes where I couldn’t see.
Like a swan paddling furiously underwater, I sent my sympathies to the viscount who must have worked hard behind the scenes – and we headed toward the carriage returning to our territory.
“Are you leaving already?”
“—Duchess.”
On the way to the carriage, we met our relatives. The duchess, with Yuri by her side, blocked our path.
I bowed to my mother-in-law whom I was meeting for the first time. However, she frowned at my gesture.
“We finally have a chance to meet, and you’re leaving without greeting properly. Don’t you think that’s rather rude?”
“We were indeed rude. My apologies, Madam.”
“I wasn’t trying to scold you. By the way─ Kyle? Is this your first time meeting?”
The lady pointed directly at me and greeted. I responded with a hearty smile.
“Pleased to meet you, Mother-in-law.”
“Well. Didn’t you say our Yuri’s smile was plain-looking?”
“It was true.”
“There are truths in this world that are unpleasant even if they’re facts. Hehe, I wonder how shocked His Excellency was when he heard he needed to cultivate a smile.”
As she chuckled, her large chest bounced up and down.
He- Staring blankly at that chest, the lady looked down at me and spoke.
“Now she’s blossomed into quite a beauty. Have you seen her?”
“The Duke said not to show it.”
“Yes, that’s right. The price has changed now.”
Midway through her sentence, the lady suddenly turned to look at her daughter.
“People say anyone who sees Yuri practicing her smile once falls madly in love with her.”
“Hee, I’m curious. How beautiful could it be?”
“That’s why… If our Yuri can’t smile for a long time, maybe sending her off to a family that makes her smile wouldn’t be bad.”
Hearing this talk about engagement and divorce, I looked at Yuri’s face. Despite the discussion, her expression remained perfectly calm.
It was hard to imagine her smiling for someone. But… What if, by some chance, my former fiancée smiled at another…
‘It pisses me off.’
I hate having my things taken away the most. NTR is a sin. Even though it was an engagement made when we were young, being taken means being taken.
“Mother-in-law.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t worry.”
After observing the party venue today, I was confident.
Right now, among the noble children gathered here in my age group – I am the strongest.
In this other world where power equals authority, this was a tremendous advantage.
“No one will make Yuri happier than I will.”
After hearing my words, the lady closed her eyes in thought for a moment before carefully opening them and speaking.
“Alright. I’ll leave my daughter in your care. Try taking her somewhere.”
Leaving behind words worthy of a Demon King, the lady boarded her carriage and disappeared. Watching her retreating figure, I got into our carriage with the viscount.
Shortly after boarding the carriage, the viscount cautiously smiled and asked,
“Kyle, seems like you really like Yuri.”
“Huh?”
“Weren’t you showing off your teeth so blatantly in front of the lady?”
“Oh, yeah. I do like her. Pretty face and big chest.”
Such beauties were rare even on Earth. Pretty face, and probably growing a huge bust too. I wasn’t stupid enough to refuse something given to me.
My resistance to the lady stemmed from an instinctive certainty that she’d prefer someone like that. Being the Duchess of the North, she exuded an aura of preferring manly people.
‘She’d probably like someone who defies her, calling it ‘spirit’ or something.’
However, the viscount who heard my words hardened his expression slightly as if he misheard.
“…Pretty face? Big chest? Is that all?”
“Huh? Is there more needed for a woman?”
“Well… Not really.”
“Oh, I’d also like wide hips.”
“…My son, but you’re really simple-minded.”
The viscount gazed out the window and sighed deeply. It almost sounded like my late mother’s name.
Wondering why he reacted like that, I tilted my head and slumped against the cushion. I should’ve taken off this stuffy tuxedo—too concerned about others’ gazes to do so.
‘When I become a Master, I’ll just wear whatever.’
If I become a Master, I could walk around shirtless and no one would dare say anything. No one wants to get their skull cracked by offending a Master.
Unable to endure wearing this stifling tuxedo all the way to the viscount’s territory, I unbuttoned the collar—just then, the viscount who seemed to have regained his senses asked,
“Come to think of it, it looked like you were talking to His Highness. What did you discuss?”
“Oh—that. I decided to become friends with the prince.”
“…What?”
The viscount stared at me frozen in place. Seeing nothing wrong with his reaction, I belatedly realized there was something I hadn’t mentioned.
“Oh right. We also agreed to speak casually.”
“Uh, urk─!”
“…Dad?”
The viscount, who already looked at his limit, grabbed his neck upon hearing that and collapsed.
That day, I learned that even an Aura Expert knight could faint from high blood pressure.
* * *
“Welcome.”
“Yeah.”
Hearing Sir Leon’s words, I channeled Aura into my body and weapons. The weapon infused with Aura began to resonate with a deep hum.
Seeing my Aura-infused sword, Sir Leon also channeled Aura into his sword, preparing for the imminent clash.
Moments later, we both charged forward, crossing swords to demonstrate our swordsmanship.
Chajjaejaejaeng-!
Swinging dozens of times per second. Sparks flew from the swords, creating a scene reminiscent of a blast furnace.
After several minutes of swinging our swords with full force, I hit my physical limit, and so did Sir Leon.
Chaeng-!
Breathing heavily after the final clash, I stepped back. The unique Aura breathing technique passed down in the Meyer Clan circulated through my body, rapidly replenishing my stamina.
Sir Leon, who had also recovered his breath, stood still and taunted me.
“Is this all you’ve got? Young Master.”
Smirking at Sir Leon’s provocation, I deliberately fell for it.
The foundation of all martial arts is defense and counterattack. The art of remaining unscathed while attacking the opponent one-sidedly.
In that sense, knocking down an opponent rushing towards you is easier than charging at them yourself.
I knew this intellectually. I rationally understood it was something I shouldn’t do… but…
‘If I can’t handle this much, how can I become a Sword Saint?’
The Sword Saint I aspired to be wasn’t someone who waited for enemies to come and counterattacked vulnerabilities.
An incarnation of the sword who could charge anywhere with just one sword and smash everything.
I needed to be able to crush an equal-level knight in an unfavorable situation head-on.
“Here I go.”
“Yes, bring it on.”
Giving a courteous signal that I was coming, I used Aura-enhanced leg strength to kick off the ground.
Rushing to Sir Leon’s front like a cannonball, Sir Leon swung his sword nonchalantly to attack me.
Not blocking until the last moment, I deflected his sword and slammed the pommel straight into Sir Leon’s face.
“Urk-!”
Blood flowed freely from Sir Leon’s crushed nose. Following through, I tripped him and pointed my sword at him.
“How’s that? Is this my victory?”
“…Where did you learn such mercenary-like techniques?”
“Just thought of it and tried it. Is it bad?”
“Well, what’s wrong with winning? Winning is everything.”
Saying that, Sir Leon rose and left a memorable remark.
“Young Master, remember this well. The dead cannot speak.”
“And the defeated talk too much?”
“…Young Master, you seem to have enjoyed this. Care for another round? This time, I won’t go easy.”
“Yeah, Sir Leon, you suck at this.”
“—Young Master? Young Master? Come at me right now.”
Ignoring Sir Leon’s threat, I headed to the personal training ground.
Five years had passed since the prince’s party.
I still haven’t reached the Master level.
